The article touches upon the issues of several problems. Firstly, we attempt to determine the methodology of a sociological analysis of culture which is adequate for modern realities. Secondly, we will apply this methodological basis to the cultural specifics of modern Russian students in a transitive, transitional society. It is stressed that the formation of a global innovative society results in a permanent crisis with the destruction of the old sociocultural forms and the emergence of new ones, with the result that culture becomes not a “guardian of the foundations”, but an active “fermenting” power of society. In these nonlinear processes, a special importance is acquired by subjective culture. Based on F. Tenbrook’s ideas, an analysis of monostylism and polystylism of a student’s representative culture is carried out. It is noted that these processes of representation are contradictory and hybrid. Highly-valued by student youth, the values of independence, individuality, and freedom of the post-materialistic plan are represented primarily in the sphere of leisure and free-time activities. The presented typology of students’ lifestyles in the field of educational activity (“professionals”, “ritualists”, “public men”, and “conformists”) fixes a predominantly adaptive strategy of behavior based on the adoption of a paternalistic attitude on the part of the administration and the teaching staff of universities. The article is based on the materials of the authors’ interregional sociological research, conducted in the Southern Federal District in 2006, 2011, and 2016.